Best Tall Building under 100 meters Award of Excellence: Forma Itaim, São Paulo

A response to growing residential demand of a prosperous upper middle class in São Paulo, Forma Itaim seeks to maximize the slenderness of the volume and highlight itself as a "singularity of good manners,” without stridency, amidst the monotonous sea of undifferentiated skyscrapers of São Paulo. The floors are articulated in two parallel bays, flanking a central communications core that includes two batteries of panoramic elevators. The main openings of the apartments are oriented to the north and south, with deep balconies to mitigate the intense Brazilian solar radiation, while the east and west façades, the most exposed in the climate of São Paulo, are resolved via mostly opaque treatments.

The main part of the façade is composed of color-coated terracotta cladding, creating a mostly opaque ventilated façade that opens to the balconies, which are made from coated aluminum extrusions and glass balustrades. This solution provided a lasting material that requires almost no maintenance, as well as allowed a wide color range that creates a singular presence in a predominantly monochrome environment. There are other, distinct façade typologies elsewhere in the building. In the plinth, the façade consists of a curtain wall with perforated aluminum double skin; the cores enclosed by a single-skin curtain wall, and the rooftop features timber cladding.